This invention relates to molded plastic containers of the type having oppositely located open bottom bail receivers, also serving as lifting handles, and more particularly to the improvement which provides protection against pinched fingers due to inadvertent interference between the bail wire and the user""s fingers when lifting the container.
Molded plastic containers are commonly and extensively used for the packaging of many materials including, but not limited to, food products, driveway sealant, wallboard dressing and paint. It is common to provide such shipping containers with bails and bail receivers on opposite sides of the container side wall and spaced an inch or more below the open top surface, not only to receive the bail wire, but also to provide lifting handles to assist in moving the containers from place to place. With the bail wire in place, it is possible for the fingers of the person lifting the container to become pinched by inadvertent movement of the bail wire.
The principal objective of the present invention is to provide guard members in the interior volumes defined by the bail receivers of a molded plastic container so as to guard against and essentially prevent inadvertent pinching of a person""s fingers who is using the bail receivers as lifting devices. In general, this is accomplished by providing reversely similar interior guard members depending from the top spacer panel of each bail receiver in oppositely surrounding relationship to the bail aperture through the front panel of the bail receiver.
Further in accordance with the present invention, the guard members described above are configured in such a way as to permit injection molding and more specifically to permit the withdrawal of the portion of the mold or die which is disposed interiorly of the guard members. This is accomplished by forming the lower portions of the guard members to be free of and flexible relative to both the container side wall and the front panels of the bail receivers so that the guard members flex outwardly to permit the interior portion of the molding die to be withdrawn.
Other applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.